Not worth the paper it's printed on

During WWII, from 1942 to 1945, Japan occupied a fair territory of South East Asia, including part of China, down through Thailand, Indochina (Vietnam), part of Burma, Malaya, and so on, as far south as New Guinea. They invalidated all the currencies of the area, and issued their own equivalent. The new paper bills used the languages and units of each country occupied, but were "guaranteed" by the Japanese government.

10 rupees. I am not sure where these were used.

The bills were decorated with symbols and scenes familiar to the residents of each area, probably to encourage acceptance. Because of the bananas on the 10 dollar note, they became known as "banana money".*

Reverse of the 10 rupee note.

Pretty pictures did not do the trick, in part because, whenever the authorities needed more funds, they printed out another batch of bills, thereby devaluing the currency. Besides, since many of the notes did not have serial numbers (none of the ones Laurie brought home do), they were easily counterfeited. As the occupation dollar/rupee/gulder/pound dropped in value, Japan printed higher and higher denominations, again devaluing the holdings of the locals. (Black markets were illegally using the older currencies, which were safer.)

Half guilder, Dutch language. Used in Dutch East Indies.

After Japan's surrender in 1945, the occupation currencies became worthless. Many who had prospered under the Japanese lost everything; those who had held onto the older currencies instead of converting, found that they were again valuable.

Half rupee, 10 cents (Dutch).

So, Laurie's "stash" is interesting, unusual, a glimpse into a moment of history, but as to monetary value, worthless. We won't be cashing it in.

*About those trees: nobody, so far, has identified them. The bananas on the 10 dollar note were obvious, of course. And the round things on the right may be coconuts. Christopher has identified the one rupee note drawing as a banyan tree, because of the many dropped roots. I'm wondering if some may be mangos or papayas. Do they grow in Indonesia? I can see that I'll be Googling images tomorrow, to find out.

And I have a couple more oddities to show you then.